March 19, 2026 | News & Notices Selected as a “Next Nadeshiko: Companies Supporting Dual Careers and Co-parenting”
Shimadzu Corporation was selected as a “Next Nadeshiko” company, a designation for listed companies that excel in supporting dual careers and co-parenting. This designation is awarded to listed companies that demonstrate outstanding initiatives in providing gender-neutral support for balancing work and child-rearing, and in creating an environment where all employees—not only those in dual-career and co-parenting households—can choose their preferred work style. The designation is administered by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Shimadzu Corporation introduced a maternity leave system in 1948 and has continued to expand the system to enable women to sustain long-term careers. We also encourage male employees to take childcare leave. Thanks to initiatives that included emails encouraging take-up, sharing firsthand accounts, and organizing talk sessions between those who took leave and their supervisors, the take-up rate improved from 16.7 % (average 51 days) in FY 2021 to 70.6 % (average 93 days) in FY 2024. To support women’s career development, Shimadzu provides leadership training for management candidates (assistant manager level) and management-level training. These initiatives empower participants through direct dialog with the President and executives*1. In addition, we have implemented DE&I training for newly appointed managers and general managers, regardless of gender, and rolled out unconscious bias*2 training for our executives.
Shimadzu has adopted the group-wide DE&I promotion slogan “Embrace Differences, Include One and ALL.” Based on this principle, we are advancing initiatives that enable each employee to work while fully utilizing their individuality. In FY 2024, the company’s engagement score*3 was 65 % (+2 from the previous year), remaining higher than the manufacturing industry average.
- *1 Support that enables individuals to fully demonstrate their abilities and participate in decision-making
- *2 Unconscious assumptions or biases
- *3 An index that measures the degree to which employees feel motivated to contribute voluntarily to the company and their work
Click here for details on our diversity initiatives.